Take 500 hotels, 147,000 rooms, and 13,000,000 active members, and what do you have? You have one big company named Hilton, one of the world leaders of the hospitality industry, and its loyalty program -- Hilton HHonors.
And if you are a certain publicity-hungry ingenue, you have a very, very large trust fund.
From its inception, HHonors has carved a unique niche in the frequent travel industry. It was the first hotel program to offer credit cards from competing companies, and was the first (and remains the only) program to allow members to earn both points and miles with every stay through the now famous "Double Dip."
Like all programs, HHonors has changed over time. Award levels have increased, elite perks have changed, and old-timers will say that points aren't worth as much as they used to be.
Perhaps. But the same can be said about almost any program. The fact remains that by today's standards, HHonors remains one of the strongest programs in the world.
More about HHonors:
Conrad Hilton entered the hotel business when he purchased the Mobley Hotel in Cisco, Texas in 1919. He formed the Hilton Hotels Corp. in 1946 and the hotel group has since grown from its Texas roots to include over 145,000 hotel rooms in cities around the world. Hilton brands include Conrad Hotels, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inn and Hampton Inns & Suites, Hilton Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites by Hilton. Earlier this year, The Blackstone Group announced its acquisition of Hilton Hotels Corp., a transaction expected to be completed within the next month. Blackstone owns more than 100,000 hotel rooms in the U.S. and Europe and the merger almost doubles the size of the company.
The HHonors program is best known for its "double dip" earning style where members can earn both points and miles for the same hotel stay.
Earning capabilities
Members who choose points and variable miles will receive 10 points and one mile per eligible dollar spent. With points and fixed miles, you'll receive 10 points per dollar spent and 500 miles per stay at Hilton, Conrad, Coral by Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations Club; 100 miles per stay at Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Homewood Suites and Scandic hotels. Choose points and points and you'll get 15 points per eligible dollar spent.
Eligible charges for Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites and Homewood Suites include room rate only while point-earning charges at other Hilton hotels include room rate and other incidentals (not including tax). Members can also earn points for credit card purchases, car rentals and transferring miles into points, among other options.
Award choices
Ah well, no more Hilton Warsaw for 7,500 points but there are still some reasonable redemptions - best one is the GLON and GLONP in places like NYC where avg room rates are very high!
HHonors offers a number of award packages. While Marriott's redemption packages include accommodations and airfare, Hilton focuses on luxury redemption options such as the "Indulge Your Senses" package for two that includes a deluxe ocean view room at the Caribe Hilton, daily buffet breakfast and four complimentary spa treatments for 240,000 points.
Elite members have exclusive access to VIP Rewards, with award stays of up to 14 nights at participating hotels worldwide for between 150,000 and 410,000 points.
One-day car rental awards start at 15,000 points and a one-class upgrade starts at 4,000 points. Carnival Cruise awards start at 250,000 points for a three-day cruise in the Bahamas and members can redeem points for tickets to Disneyland, Disneyworld and Universal Studios. A three-day adult ticket to Disneyland is 70,000 points.
Members can donate points to a number of charities including AIDS Walk, City of Hope, National Arbor Day Foundation and National Coalition for the Homeless. Every 10,000-point donation is the equivalent of $25 given to the charity.
Members can also redeem for gift certificates at retail and food partners such as Bloomingdale's, Pottery Barn and The Sharper Image. Most certificates require 25,000 points for $50 and 40,000 points for $100. Merchandise is also available, ranging from a Viking food processor for 135,000 points to a Sony Home Theatre System for 200,000 points.
With Experience Rewards, members can redeem points for a variety of once-in-a-lifetime experiences. For 180,000 points, you can spend three hours with Kim Hamrock, a world champion surfer. Or you can spend two days learning everything about the microbrewery business with a master brewer for 330,000 points.
HHonors points can be exchanged into other loyalty currency with many programs. Members can exchange points into miles with 35 airlines, Amtrak and GlobalPass. Conversion rates vary but in general, 10,000 points convert into 1,000 miles. Alternatively, members can exchange 5,000 miles for 10,000 HHonors points with American Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Mexicana Airlines, Midwest Airlines and South African Airways; 5,000 miles for 5,000 HHonors points with Virgin Atlantic Airways. Exchange rates vary by country but in the U.S., 1,000 American Express points convert into 1,300 HHonors points and 1,250 Diner's Club Rewards points convert into 2,000 HHonors points.
Partnership and other partners...
HHonors partners with more than 50 airlines (and Amtrak), so chances are that your frequent flyer program(s) participates in the HHonors program.
Members earn between 250 and 500 points per rental when renting a car with Alamo, Avis, Europcar, National, Sixt and Thrifty.
Members in the U.S. can choose a Hilton co-branded credit card with either American Express or Citibank. The American Express card comes with no annual fee, a welcome bonus of 10,000 HHonors points with first purchase and up to an additional 10,000 points on your next four stays. You'll receive five points per dollar spent at Hilton hotels and grocery stores, drugstores, gas stations, restaurants, U.S. postal service and for wireless phone bills. All other purchases net three points per dollar. Members also receive an online booking bonus when charging a stay to the credit card and automatically receive Silver VIP status, and can be upgraded to Gold VIP elite status when charging $20,000 or more annually to the card.
The Citibank Visa co-branded card is also annual fee free and offers new cardmembers 15,000 bonus points with first purchase. Members earn six bonus points for every dollar spent at Hilton hotels and three points per dollar spent on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations and two points per dollar spent everywhere else. Cardmembers automatically receive Silver VIP status.
HHonors participates in e-Rewards and MyPoints and members can earn points for participating in online surveys and shopping online.
Many cellular partners participate in the HHonors program and members can earn points for making mobile phone calls in places such as Indonesia with the Indosat network and the Wind network in Italy.
Members can earn over 500,000 points for real estate transactions with Chase, CitiMortgage, Wachovia and Washington Mutual.
Elite level program
I've had the pleasure of being a Gold and Diamond with HHonors and it's definitely still one of the best elite programs in terms of breadth of hotels and adherence to the benefits.
Unlike other hotel programs, award stays count towards elite status and members can earn status three ways: by the number of stays, nights or points earned during a rolling consecutive 12-month period. Priority Club Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest offer status based on nights or points earned and Marriott determines elite status by number of nights only.
Silver VIP membership will be given to members who stay four times or 10 nights during a 12-month period (points earned do not count towards Silver status). Silver members receive a 15 percent point bonus, complimentary health club access when available and the option to redeem points for VIP-only awards.
Gold VIP membership will be awarded to members who complete 16 stays, 36 nights or earn 60,000 base points during a 12-month period. Gold members receive a 25 percent point bonus and upgraded accommodations or amenities, depending on hotel brand and location. For example, Gold members staying at Hilton hotels in North America can choose either 1,000 bonus points, an upgrade to an executive floor, executive floor lounge access, complimentary breakfast or high speed Internet. Gold VIP Members are exempt from award blackout dates, except when room demand is extraordinarily high.
Members who complete 28 stays, 60 nights or earn 100,000 base points during a consecutive 12-month period will be awarded Diamond VIP membership. Diamond members receive all the benefits offered to the lower tier members, a 50 percent point bonus and guaranteed reservations for one room when reservations are made 48 hours prior to arrival.
Rules, rules rules!
Points cannot be combined but can be transferred in 10,000-point increments at a cost of $25 per 10,000 points. If a member transfers 200,000 points in a calendar year, all additional transfers made that year are free of charge.
Members can purchase up to 40,000 Hilton HHonors points per calendar year in 1,000-point increments. The cost of points is $0.0125 per point for transactions under 10,000 points and $0.01 per point for purchases over 10,000 points. Points do not expire but members who do not earn points in any 12 month consecutive period may be removed from the program and lose all accumulated points. The account may be reactivated within 90 days of closure by staying at a Hilton hotel, earning points through a partner or purchasing points.
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